Kevin Pietersen played some cricket on Saturday for his Indian Premier League
team, the Delhi Daredevils.

Considering he has spent recent weeks airing his views as a TV pundit, it is worth recording that fact, even if he was ‘miked up’ in the field, talking astutely and happily.

He didn’t do very well with the bat. He made just 14 off 18 balls, in which short time he was dropped twice. But at least he was back playing, doing what he does best.

A lot of perspective has been lost recently in Pietersen’s fall-out with the England team and its management. That has been the case on both sides of the argument, and from most observing it.

One only had to consider the identity of the Titans coach in the Champions League match that preceded Pietersen’s against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Centurion on Saturday. It was Matthew Maynard. His team beat the Perth Scorchers, who surprisingly omitted Paul Collingwood from their side.

Maynard lost his son this year. Pietersen played with Tom for Surrey at Worcestershire early in the season when the young Maynard made 143 in difficult conditions. He immediately reported to the England management that Maynard should be monitored closely as regards England selection. Since Tom’s tragic death he has been very supportive to the Maynard family. As Andy Flower, the England team director, has said: “We all have good and bad in us.”

Pietersen erred, but how badly, really? Basically he wanted to play the full edition of the Indian Premier League. That was where this whole mess began. But he wanted to be a special case, and the England management quite rightly disagreed. From there things just got messier and messier. Pietersen was exposed as a selfish cricketer. Wow! There have been and always will be plenty of them in this curious individual sport played in a team environment.

Things can be smoothed. As Andrew Strauss has said: “Cricketers are a pretty forgiving bunch.” And so they are. Pietersen has realised that he still needs to play for England, and England have realised they could quite do with him too.

He does not want to end his England career in this way. He can take the IPL for every last dollar after the 2015 World Cup. As he began doing on Saturday, it is time to move on, to play some cricket.

Pietersen played last Thursday in a warm-up against Sydney Sixers. He made a fourth-ball duck, lbw to left-armer Mitchell Starc. It was no surprise. Pietersen invariably fails in lesser games, as has been evidenced in many tour warm-up matches for England.

There was, of course, irony in his appearance in South Africa. The tipping point of his row was the content of his texts to members of the South African team. And one of his Daredevil team-mates on Saturday was Morne Morkel. In the opposition was Jacques Kallis. All seemed friends, however, even if Kallis retired hurt after being hit by Morkel.

Pietersen struggled against the mystery spin of Sunil Narine. He was first dropped cutting, and then scooping, when wicketkeeper Manvinder Bisla tried to celebrate a little too prematurely and lost the ball. Soon, though, Narine took the catch at deep midwicket as Pietersen pulled Brett Lee.

In front of a near-capacity crowd there was much excitement. “It’s a little bit better playing for Delhi out here than England,” laughed Pietersen in relation to the fondness of the crowd reaction.

The Daredevils do not now play until Friday, when they face Auckland in Durban. Pietersen said he will return to England today for 48 hours, presumably to begin his “reintegration” into the England team.